Street Chin Na: Joint Locking and Bone Breaking Techniques for the Street - Review

"Street Chin Na: Joint Locking and Bone Breaking Techniques for the Street" with Willie "The Bam" Johnson is a good program on locking and tough training produced by Paladin Press. The DVD was not filmed in Paladin's studio, but rather in Johnson's school with Johnson and a few of his students. Johnson brings a lot of energy with his demonstrations and teaching, and the quality of production was high with clear sound and great visibility, combined with a very good DVD menu selection to assist the viewer in finding sections to study.

This is what the DVD covers:

Chin Na Warm-up: This section has a brief introduction as Johnson and students toss a bean bag around and then includes Johnson and his students performing various drills such as: Bean Bag Catch, Iron Body Conditioning, Tree Stump Catch and Roll, Long Staff Twisting Drill, Forearm Drill, Touch the Shoulder Drill, Punching Drill, Slap/Elbow Drill, Wrist and Arm Escapes. These drills can help toughen a person up and may be something you want to incorporate into your training, though I personally don't think I'll be teaching them in my classes.

Pressure Points: Johnson demonstrates various pressure points on a partner in this short chapter, but does not clearly show exactly what he is doing. For those of us already familiar with various points and weak areas of the body, it is not a problem, but for a novice, they might not understand just what Johnson was doing.

Hand Techniques: In another short chapter, Johnson, along with students, illustrates some basic traditional punching techniques. Again, it is more of a demonstration of these strikes as Johnson and his students "shadow box" with these techniques.

Chin Na Set: Johnson has two of his students perform a two-man "form" incorporating various Chin Na techniques. Johnson does instruct them through the form defining what they are doing and why.

Defensive Techniques: This section of the DVD is broken into 16 short chapters or techniques that include defenses against wrist grabs, cross wrist grabs, lapel grabs, front chokes, bear hugs, headlocks, finger pointing, punches, bear hugs from behind, and full nelsons. Johnson does a good job of teaching these and the program provides a decent sampling of locks and defensive techniques. I think martial artists from many styles could incorporate some of these into their training. One thing I did get a bit tired of while watching was all of the yelling. As I mentioned, Johnson brings a lot of intensity into his teaching, which is good. However, the partner (Johnson's son for many of them) he does the techniques to is constantly grimacing and yelling in pain. (Grimacing was okay, but the yelling got old) I've participated in and have watched many demos where the person taps loudly, yells, etc. for the demonstration. When teaching, I don't feel it is necessary to make my partner scream while instructing. The screams got a bit annoying and sometimes distracting from what Johnson was teaching. Yes, it is important to train with intensity, and the better you know your partner, the harder you can go. I just felt it was too much at times for an instructional program. Johnson has a lot to teach, so I hope his style does not prevent some from learning from him.

Chin Na Takedowns: This portion of the program focuses on 8 different takedowns that Johnson teaches. Again, it is a good sampling of various takedowns and Johnson does a good job of illustrating them. Many martial artists may find a new trick or two in these as well.

Jailhouse Workout: This is the final chapter of the DVD. The purpose of showing this workout is to teach the flow and intensity that Johnson brings to training, not to teach the techniques they use. A lot of the drills are again more conditioning, with the participants striking and kicking each other with a lot of force. I agree with Johnson that many places do not train like this, but that it is training that will better prepare you for self-defense on the street. This portion should motivate you to get to the gym and train with intensity, although some people might not like training with such contact.

I thought there were some good joint locking techniques in this program, but unfortunately there was a lot of time spent showing people do conditioning drills rather than teaching joint locks. I would have preferred more techniques and less conditioning drills.

The package also includes a bonus DVD titled "Chin Na/Street Combat Fusion." This is Johnson's take on traditional with a more modern approach. The program includes 18 various self-defense responses against different attacks. This bonus DVD is an hour long and contained more of what I wanted in the first DVD. When you add both DVDs together, it is a much better program and teaches more self-defense responses and techniques. It also concludes with some comments by Johnson that are poignant for any martial artist. Those final comments increased my respect for Johnson and his students.

"Street Chin Na" with Willie "The Bam" Johnson, produced by Paladin Press, is a good program. It does not contain instruction on as many joint locking techniques as I thought it would, but does contain some basic locks and a few different twists on some locking techniques. It also includes instruction on incorporating locks with other techniques which is very important. The program also emphasizes tough training, and if you are looking to make your workouts tougher, there are some drills here for you to use. I'm sure any martial artist that adds this DVD program to their library will find things to incorporate into their training.

You can see a 7 1/2 minute video clip of Street Chin Na and order from www.burrese.com

Review of Lock On Joint Locking Essentials vol. 3 Shoulder Locks

This review was just posted on Martial Warrior and will also be on Amazon and other sources. The Lock On dvds are sold through http://www.aikiproductions.com/ and are also available at amazon:

I'm asked to review people and things quite a bit these days. As the owner of http://www.martialwarrior.com/ I come into contact with martial artists worldwide. I'm sent video clips, research papers, DVD's etc, all asking for my opinion. Unfortunately, most of what I review these days is pure garbage, at least from a self-defense perspective. Fortunately, this time around, the person asking for my review was Alain Burrese and the product, "Lock On: Joint Locking Essentials Volume 3: Shoulder Locks". Why do I say fortunately? From talking with Mr. Burrese on-line and reading his published work I've come to expect quality, in this expectation I was not disappointed.

First, the technical aspect of the DVD. It was taped in a well lit venue with a blue background and flooring. This contrasted nicely with the white uniforms and allowed the movements to be clearly seen. This is a plus since being able to see the presentation is the reason for buying the DVD in the first place. Secondly, the sound was clear and crisp. No need to hit the rewind to try and catch what was just said.

Now on to the meat of the DVD. I should pause for a moment and state that I have no reservations in saying exactly what is on my mind. I've had on-line wars with net-ninjas and cyber-warriors. If something is garbage, I won't . . . and haven't been afraid to say so. With that little tidbit in mind, I was very pleased with what Mr. Burrese presented. Here's why;

1. He begins with a detailed explanation of the anatomy of the shoulder and the various balance displacement and mobility planes that exist in which to control movement or exploit its weaknesses.

2. In teaching a particular 'technique', he goes further into the principle behind the technique. As he aptly states early on, he can't teach everything there is to teach in one DVD or hope to cover all the variables. But by explaining the principles behind each lock the viewer can then grasp the concept and expand upon it during training. This is an important point because far too many arts have become 'cookie cutters' in there approach. Either due to the rigid inflexibility of the instructor or their lack of in-depth knowledge to expand beyond what they themselves were shown.

3. One of the most important things covered; in my professional opinion was the necessity of a gross motor skill block/interception followed immediately by a solid, gross motor skill strike prior to attempting the lock. Let me explain why this is so important, and why I'm so appreciative the Mr. Burrese covered this information. I've been in one uniform or another since 1985. Currently I'm a Corrections Officer with eighteen years on the job. I've been in over two-hundred uses-of-force against armed and unarmed, violent felons whose intent was to injure me, others or themselves. In that time, I've used more joint locking principles than I care to remember. Unless the circumstances are 'just right', a solid strike is going to be needed in order to facilitate a proper lock.

I often see, unfortunately, a complete lack of realism in modern training or even an acknowledgement for the need. Recently, I've been sent several video clips of martial artists who were of medium to high Dan rank giving seminars or demonstrations. In some, the choreography was wonderful . . . unrealistic, but wonderful. Other offerings were so awful it was beyond the ridiculous. But they all had a common thread. In each, the bad guy was basically giving his hand/wrist/arm to the 'master'. Or if there was a punch at all, it was a slow, half-hearted effort that wouldn't have pushed over a one-hundred year old great-grandmother. I'm not trying to be harsh on this point, but a real, live, aggressive attacker bent on causing you the greatest amount of damage in the shortest amount of time is NOT simply going to stick his arm out for you to grab. Nor is he going to give you a slow, non-effort punch that is aimed about three feet short of your head. Although is was 'neat' to see these 'masters' grab the wrist and throw the compliant partner all over the mat . . . in real life, based upon the types of attacks I've seen, they'd have ended up in the hospital trying to pull off that nonsense. Or the morgue.

That is why I was delighted to see Mr. Burrese expound on the necessity of some type of a strike preceding the lock. He was careful to distinguish between the difference of the partner offering his wrist so that the technique could be demonstrated properly in a learning atmosphere and utilizing it in personal combat.

4. The techniques and concepts demonstrated used sound principles of motion. Flow and use of body weight was explained as well as breaking the axis for balance displacement and take downs.

5. Mr. Burrese covered applications of both a defensive and offensive nature with the locks. This is important as the necessity of a pre-emptive strike is sometimes a critical factor of survival. As the saying goes, a good defense is a strong offense.

6. Different conclusions were discussed during the explanation of the techniques. Options were given for a range of conclusions from a take down and pain compliance to control an attacker to incapacitation if necessary to the situation.

7. Finally, Mr. Burrese was well prepared for his presentation of this material. This is a plus and allowed for the easy flow of information.

In conclusion, whereas lately I've been inundated with choreographed garbage passing itself off as a martial art, I was very pleased to watch this DVD and found myself nodding in agreement many times throughout. Mr. Burrese has done and excellent job and I commend him fully. Where some offerings make me wish I'd spent the time more constructively, like watching paint peel, I'd not hesitate to view the teachings of Mr. Burrese.

About the reviewer:Mr. David Schultz has been in the martial arts since 1975. He holds Dan ranking in Shuri Te Karate, master rankings in the traditional arts of Taekwondo and Hapkido and master ranking in the eclectic martial art of Taekido. He holds six Law Enforcement Instructor ratings in Defensive Tactics, Combatives, Aiki Jujutsu and Firearms. He has taught military, police, corrections, executive protection and private citizens since 1986.